The earth and plants gave off small amounts of the energy magical races needed, and while it was enough to sustain them, it wasn’t enough for them to flourish. As humans had moved into every corner of the planet, they had cut down most of the wild places, further weakening the other races.
A soft buzzing sounded in his ear, and he turned his head to arch an eyebrow at the small glowing dot hovering beside him. It darted into a stand of trees. Shiloh sighed and stood to follow. Once he was in the scant privacy of the trees, the glow became much brighter and formed into a small man.
Dandy, short for Dandelion, crouched on a branch, his huge violet-blue eyes grave. He was wearing his working leathers that day, dyed in shades of green, each subtly different from the next. His long yellow hair, the same shade as his namesake, was pulled back in a French braid to keep it from tangling with his dragonfly wings.
“Who is she, Shiloh?” the small fey asked, his voice like leaves rustling in a breeze.
“Her name is Rienne. She’s come to visit her cousin, the newcomer Cassia, wife of our Dar.” Shiloh leaned against the tree. “Why are the small fey interested in her, Dandy?”
Dandy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Cassia is a shifter. I wonder if her cousin is as well.”
Shiloh waited. The small fey took his time getting around to answering the question.
“She smells of honey and pain. Her light is near to extinguished. Darkness has cast a veil over her like the bruise clouds of a thunderstorm.” Dandy went still, gazing at the bark of the branch under him as if willing it to give up secrets.
Shiloh raised an eyebrow. The words were unexpectedly poetic for Dandy who generally had a mischievous and irreverent personality.
Dandy sighed. “She has bees in the truck. At least one hive, possibly more, but they would not speak to me other than to say Mother would return soon.”
Shiloh frowned. All bees spoke to the island small fey. They had raised and cared for the hives since the founding of the town. Honey was one of the more popular island exports. Most small fey cared for flowers, trees, and other plant life, but a small branch had changed their focus to honeybees centuries ago.
As far as he knew, bees were not stunning conversationalists. They generally only talked about the health of the queen and where the best flowers were. They had no concept of the future and only vague comprehension of the past. The hive was referred to as a whole; no bee thought of itself or any other bee as an individual, with the exception of the queen. “Mother? They spoke of their mother?”
Dandy nodded.
“How very interesting,” he murmured. “I think we might see if we can find out more about our visitor. Would you ask the others to keep an eye on her? She was heading for the cabins.” Not that he really had to tell anyone to watch her. The residents would do it all on their own, like they did with every other outsider. He wondered briefly why Dandy had been nosing around the truck in the first place but didn’t ask. “What’s the status of your hives?” He knew the island’s bees had been disappearing without warning or cause. Dar had brought back information on colony collapse disorder when he had returned to the island. But, like the scientists studying the phenomena, the small fey were baffled.
“There are no bees left, Shiloh. Last month we lost the few remaining hives.” Dandy’s eyes dulled. “The women faded shortly after.” Fading referred to a type of willed death magical beings could do. Once life became too much, they simply willed themselves to die. Fading was quite literal. The person dissolved by releasing the magic inside them. “There are only twelve small fey left on the island, and we have no hope of finding mates since the bees are gone and all the other female small fey in the world are flower fey. I fear there is no hope for us now. Those of us left are not willing to give up and fade just yet, but I expect it won’t be long before we do.”
Shiloh swallowed hard, a knot of grief burning in his chest at the thought of losing his friends. “Don’t give up, Dandy, not yet. Go and watch her. It will keep you and the other small fey busy for now.”
Dandy nodded and with a burst of multicolored sparks took his smallest form again and buzzed away.
Leaves rustled briefly, and a moment later, another small fey landed on the branch Dandy had been standing on. Long spirals of purple-red hair hung to the small man’s hips. He was wearing similar clothing to Dandy’s, only in shades of brown. His clothing was rumpled in a way that made Shiloh think the fey had slept in it. The man’s handsome face was pinched with strain, and shadows of sadness chased across his expression. Gray, silver, and dusty-brown moth wings fanned slowly behind him.
Shiloh inclined his head in greeting. “Foxglove, hello. I didn’t see you.”
Foxglove shrugged, his gaze still turned in the direction the woman had driven. “No one sees me, Shiloh. Don’t worry about it.” A small, faintly bitter smile toyed with the corners of his full lips. Startling green eyes met his. “She’s beautiful. All pulled in on herself and trying to hide from the world.” He sat down and tucked his knees under his chin.
Shiloh rolled his shoulders against the tree behind him and regarded Foxglove thoughtfully. Of all the small fey living on Oracle Island, Foxglove was the quietest, slipping silently through crowds and more like a ghost than a resident. Not to say he was sneaky. Foxglove was just someone you forgot about almost as soon as he wasn’t around.
The slight bitterness in his tone made Shiloh aware it wasn’t something the man did on purpose. Shiloh reached out and ran a fingertip down the other man’s cheek in a fleeting caress.
Foxglove leaned into the touch, and lashes veiled his gaze as he looked down.
“I see you, Foxglove,” Shiloh said softly.
Startled green eyes locked with his. A look of yearning crossed Foxglove’s face.
“For now,” he murmured. His gaze returned to the street. “Do you think she’ll stay?” he asked wistfully. “I would like to meet her. She’s so sad. I would bring her flowers to make her smile. I want to see her smile. Really smile, not the small shadow she gives to strangers to look normal.” He ducked his head, appearing embarrassed. “If she truly smiled, I think it would be like the sun rising.”
Shiloh’s brows rose. It sounded like Foxglove was almost in love with the newcomer. Does she affect everyone like this? Do we all want to heal her? He brushed a fingertip over Foxglove’s cheek again.
Foxglove looked up at him with a smirk. “You are interested too, aren’t you?” A crafty look spread over Foxglove’s face with his smile. “So is Dandy. I will keep that in mind.” He stood and kissed the tip of Shiloh’s finger. “I will see you later, Shiloh. I have much to think about.”
Diving off the branch, to get air under his wings, the small man flew away. Shiloh shook his head in confusion as he watched Foxglove leave. That last smile Foxglove had sent him made him a little nervous. The other man was planning something.
With a shrug he walked out of the trees. There was nothing he could do about it now. He would have to wait and see what the future brought.
* * * *
Rienne smiled with relief when her cousin answered her knock at the door.
Cass’s eyes lit up, and she swept Rienne up in her arms and danced with her in circles. “There’s my Bumblebee! Oh sweetheart, it’s so good to see you! Uncle Hiram called to tell me you were coming.” Cass tucked her awkwardly under one arm and lugged her into the kitchen.
Rienne giggled softly. For some reason all her cousins thought carrying her around was a great idea. Of course most of them were quite a bit bigger than she was. She had long since resigned herself to it. Actually, she enjoyed it now. It made her feel cherished.
“It’s good to see you, Cass,” she said when her cousin set her down. She leaned against the taller woman and rested her head on Cass’s shoulder. Her eyes closed with pleasure when Cass put her arms around her and nuzzled Rienne’s hair. “I’ve missed you,” she added softly.
Cass nodded against her hair. “Ditto, Bumblebee. N
ow, have a seat and tell me what’s been going on. Aunt Sophie didn’t make a whole lot of sense when I spoke to her. You know she had planned on coming with you? Uncle Hiram said it took two days to talk her out of it.” Cass shuddered against her. Most of the family was terrified of Aunt Sophie, not that they didn’t have reason to be. “I don’t think Dar is up to seeing her again yet.”
Aunt Sophie wasn’t quite right. She was a rabbit shape-shifter who thought she was an alligator. The family affectionately called her the Rabbigator. Uncle Hiram didn’t let her out in public much because she was very unpredictable about shifting. She also had a penchant for attacking small animals and house pets.
“What did she do to Dar?” Rienne liked Cass’s husband even though she’d only met him a couple of times. He seemed to take their crazy family in stride. She sat down at the table while Cass got glasses of ice tea for them and set out some brownies.
“First time she met him she decided to chase Tantrum,” Cass’s smile dimmed, and Rienne recalled Cass’s cat and hamsters had been stolen when someone had broken into her house. “Tantrum climbed him, and Sophie attacked his leg because she couldn’t reach the cat. Then, at the wedding she popped in while he was undressed to ‘assess the new stock’ as she put it.”
Rienne’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding!”
“Nope. She’s got a major jones for my man.” Cass smiled weakly. “Kind of amazing he still married me, isn’t it?”
“Uh, since he seems to think you hung the moon and stars, what’s one crazy aunt?” Rienne sipped her tea and traced the wood grain on the table in front of her. “How’s the town treating you, Cass? I was starting to wonder if I was going to be hearing banjo music when I drove down Main Street. I have no inclination to go canoeing around here, let me tell you.”
Her cousin snickered. “It’s okay. It takes them a while to warm up to newbies. I don’t think they ever completely warm up to normals. Dar had to quietly let it be known I was a shifter before they stopped following me around everywhere. They still watch me but at least I don’t feel like they are considering the best way to hide my body anymore.”
Rienne’s head came up. “They know what you are?” Her hands started to shake, and she quickly hid them in her lap as waves of terror started to roll through her body. Oh God, I need to leave. I can’t be the freak again. I can’t do it.
Cass nodded slowly, her usually soft eyes turning laser sharp. “Breathe, Bumblebee. You’re safe here. They know I shift, but not what I am or what our family is.”
Rienne drew in slow, shuddering breaths while her cousin watched her with a predator’s stillness. It was easy to forget the clumsy, bashful woman sitting in front of her was quite comfortable stalking venomous animals most people feared and snacking on them.
“What did he do to you, Rienne?” Cass growled softly. She came around the table to kneel by Rienne’s side and took her hands. “Tell me what happened. You haven’t talked to the family about it. I’d have heard if you did. All I know is that Helja is looking to make him disappear. Uncle Hiram is considering disowning him from the family. You know what that means. The only reason it hasn’t happened yet is because you refuse to speak.”
Uncle Hiram was the patriarch of the family. If he disowned Tyler, the rest of the family would turn their backs on him. He would be shunned, and if he set foot on a family member’s property, he would be killed.
Rienne held Cass’s hands in a death grip. “You know he’s a cousin, right?”
Cass nodded. “Really distant. He doesn’t shift.”
“Yeah,” Rienne agreed. “It was a great, great or so cousin who was a shifter. Distant enough the blood wouldn’t be bad if we had kids but close enough he still remembered what our side of the family was.”
She released one of Cass’s hands to swipe the cold sweat beading on her forehead. The story poured out of her like a tidal wave. She had kept it all bottled up for so long because she didn’t want to cause more trouble. A small part of her also feared her family would not believe her if she told them the truth. She didn’t think she would survive her closest family telling her it was all in her head or it was somehow her fault. But, this was Cass, not only her cousin but also one of her best friends, and she couldn’t keep the secrets any longer.
“It was good at first. We were together for six years. I moved to Iowa with him when he got that job. Used some money to buy several acres and I grew alfalfa for the bees.” Rienne looked anywhere but at her cousin. “I guess I never really trusted him. I bought the land on my own, and he couldn’t touch it. The honey business was mine too. Not that it made a ton of money. He would get really angry about it. Tyler said we should share everything.
“He was always bitching about the commute to work and wanting to move to the city. Last year he was offered a promotion. It required him moving to New York.” Rienne blinked back tears and stared at their hands. “He wanted me to sell the bees and the land and use the money to buy an apartment in New York. There wasn’t any land or parks near where he wanted to live, so I wouldn’t be able to keep any of my bees. He didn’t care.”
She saw Cass nod from the edge of her vision. She knew she didn’t have to explain why not being able to have her bees was a bad thing to her cousin. This gave her the strength to meet Cass’s gaze. “It turns out he didn’t save any money and was so far in debt there was no way he could move. That’s why he kept pushing to get part of my business. He needed it to bail him out of his financial hole. I have no clue what he spent his money on. He didn’t have anything at home that would explain it.
“He kept badgering me and pushing me. The promotion ended up going to someone else. He was so angry. That’s when it started. I didn’t catch on at first.” Unable to sit still any longer, she shot to her feet and huddled next to an open window, sucking in deep breaths to keep from screaming. “There were sideways looks and friends avoided me. He started making little comments. ‘You’ve put on a few pounds, Rienne.’ Or, ‘can’t you keep the house clean?’ It ate at me. I couldn’t do anything right as far as he was concerned. Then, he stopped eating anything I cooked. He’d throw it away and claim it was bad or I had messed up the recipe. I’m a good cook, Cass. You know I am. He wouldn’t look at me when we made love. Then he started bitching about my performance. If I didn’t do what he wanted, I was a prude. If I did it, I was a whore. He would be just a little too rough and then act like I was whining when I complained.
“A few months later I was desperate to make him happy and felt completely worthless. He never hit me, but it was still abuse; you just couldn’t see the bruises because they were on the inside. Then it picked up speed. He told a few people I was a witch, worshipping the devil, and it snowballed.” She pressed her forehead against the window as tears blurred her vision. “He was really good at playing the victim, the worried boyfriend, making it sound like I was going on this crazy fall into darkness or something.”
Cass cleared her throat. “Well, you’re not a witch or a Satanist, so what’s the big deal?” There was an edge of something in Cass’s voice that tugged at her attention.
Rienne laughed convulsively. “Iowa isn’t like Portland, Cass. In Portland someone starts muttering you’re a witch, and the locals pat him or her on the head and say whatever while wondering if they’ve gone off their meds. In rural Iowa they burn crosses in your front yard. The shops wouldn’t do business with me. The locals started spouting Bible verses at me whenever I went to town. The kids would play pranks and throw things, and their parents would congratulate them.”
Her cousin stood behind her and put her hands on Rienne’s shoulders. “What else? Not that that isn’t enough, Bumblebee, but I know there’s more.”
“One night I woke up, and he was taping my hands together.” She shook with the force of the memory. “He dragged me out to the field and tied me to a tree.” Tears rolled down her cheeks in streams. “Then he made me watch while he set fire to my hives. They burned all night, and I could hear
them screaming. It was winter, Cass, they couldn’t get out, and they died.” She turned and clutched Cass’s shirt, sobbing against her cousin, not afraid of the fury vibrating from the taller woman’s frame. “They cried for me to save them, Cass, and all I could do was watch. I begged him and begged him to put the fire out, and he just laughed and said there was more than one way to break a woman. The smell. Oh God, Cass, the smell. It was so sweet, like a thousand beeswax candles.”
Cass kissed the top of her head, and Rienne felt her cousin’s tears soaking into her hair as she cried with her. They stayed that way for some time, Rienne crying out the pain and horror while Cass comforted her. They both had swollen eyes and runny noses by the time they pulled apart.
“At dawn some friends showed up. I thought they would help me.” Rienne choked on the bitter laugh that escaped her chest. “They weren’t there to help though. They started spewing venom. Telling me how evil I was and how they wanted me to get out of town. A few of them started throwing rocks, and I couldn’t get away.” A scream welled in her chest. “Tyler just stood there watching, this little smirk on his face.” She reached up to touch the small scar bisecting her right eyebrow.
“I’ll kill him, Bumblebee. He’s a walking corpse,” Cass murmured in a deadly voice.
“They left me there, in the snow, smelling my bees burning. I think they hoped I’d die.”
“How did you get loose?”
“An Amish family didn’t live too far away. They saw the smoke and came to see what was burning.” Rienne rubbed her nose with a sleeve and gave Cass a watery smile. “They untied me and took me home with them. They let me stay with them for a week. I was a mess. I’m pretty sure I had a concussion, but I don’t remember things that clearly after they started throwing the rocks. It’s funny; the Amish never asked a single question. Just took care of me. When I could function, I went back and packed when I knew he wouldn’t be home. Tyler missed a hive. I’d moved one to another part of the property because I was going to plant a different crop in the spring. That’s all that’s left of my babies, Cass. One hive.”
Bee Stung Page 2